Wen | Yang Qian
Editor| Yang Jie
The "arrogant" Starbucks also lowered its head.
On December 13, Starbucks issued an apology statement on the food safety problems in some of the stores that were exposed a few days ago, saying that it was highly concerned about this, and had closed the two stores at the first time and immediately launched an in-depth investigation.
Recently, some media reported that a reporter went undercover at 2 Starbucks stores in Wuxi and found that the store had repeatedly used expired ingredients, tampered with shelf life, and sold overnight cakes.
However, after the news was exposed, Starbucks's official Weibo only expressed "deep shock"; but at the same time did not forget to emphasize: "In the 22 years since entering the Chinese market, we have been committed to implementing strict food safety standards and resolutely adopting a zero-tolerance attitude towards food safety issues." ”
For Starbucks' attitude, netizens do not seem to buy it. Some netizens said: "40 yuan a cup of coffee ingredients is expired, is it cost savings?" Some netizens also said that they have been starbucks users for more than ten years, but they have "found that the level of service and health has been declining." In this regard, the People's Daily also commented that Starbucks "provides expired products, and no matter how big the brand is, it is impossible to keep fresh for a long time."
Finally, Starbucks finally apologized.
Starbucks, which has entered the Chinese market for more than 20 years, has always carried a strong sense of "superiority". But now, with the "overturning" on food safety issues, Starbucks, which is "on top", has also begun to be questioned by users. Starbucks, which is still expanding its stores, is also facing the problem of declining same-store sales.
Starbucks has reached "middle age", can it continue to be "proud"?
Starbucks loses "sense of superiority"
According to reports, in the exposed Wuxi Starbucks store, the undercover reporter found that the store's food safety regulations were useless: the chocolate liquid continued to be used after expiration; the matcha liquid, peach pulp and other ingredients for making matcha lattes had also expired; the pastries sold in the store were put overnight, but still continued to sell; the store supervisor also asked the store staff to "sell first what was not sold before, and then sell the new ones."
In the view of Li Li, who once served as the deputy store manager of Starbucks, the problem of store supervisors is very big, "the leader is crooked, and the whole store is crooked." He believes that if the turnover of the store itself is not high, it will lead to a decline in profit margins, and the store manager needs to bear performance appraisals such as cost accounting, in which case such a phenomenon may occur.
In addition to the food safety incidents exposed this time, Li Li revealed that before, in fact, there were other Starbucks stores that exceeded the standard of bacteria and expired ingredients, but they were "solved" internally, so they did not cause an uproar as they do now.
But Li Li told Caijing Tianxia Weekly that there will be "black labels" for recording inside Starbucks stores, and from Monday to Sunday, different time periods of time every day, the time of opening of each product, the expiration time, the signature of the person who opened the product and other details are recorded. Every month, Starbucks stores are subject to irregular internal inspections and third-party raids arranged by the company.
Therefore, he also felt confused and unable to explain: how did the stores that "overturned" this time accurately evade the company's inspections again and again, so that these problems were exposed to the public?
According to the Tianyancha App, some Starbucks stores have been punished for food problems. Among them, Starbucks Coffee (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Yantian Yihaicheng No. 2 Branch has been warned for food violations; Hubei Starbucks Coffee Co., Ltd. Changde Wanda Branch has been fined for operating expired food. In addition, Chengdu Starbucks Coffee Co., Ltd. Chongqing Commercial Building Branch and Chongqing City Balcony Branch have been sued for product liability disputes.
On the black cat complaint platform, Caijing Tianxia Weekly found that there were 1258 complaints about Starbucks. Some customers broke the news that the Starbucks they bought during the National Day were uncomfortable after drinking, "there is a situation of using expired ingredients"; in addition, there are complaints about service problems such as the non-return of starbucks official website, the delivery of the cake and other services. But it's worth noting that none of the more than 1,000 complaints showed to be "handled."
For many users, the "star father" who expresses "forced" is difficult to call out.
In the domestic consumer industry, Starbucks previously had a "sense of superiority".
Since Starbucks entered the domestic market in 1999, it seems that it has become synonymous with "high-end" and "style" in the minds of domestic users. At the beginning of the 20th century, when the per capita wage was still around 1,000 yuan, if someone spent 30-40 yuan to buy a cup of Starbucks, it was simply a "luxury" behavior. Coupled with sitting in the exquisite decoration of Starbucks storefront, with the foil of music, "drinking coffee" has become a "forced" thing.
In fact, Starbucks sells not only coffee, but also its own "coffee culture". In Starbucks stores, coffee classes, coffee lectures and other activities are held. For example, in the coffee classroom, Starbucks will equip users with baristas, explain the planting, selection, roasting, etc. of coffee beans, recommend coffee suitable for users' tastes, and immerse users in Starbucks' more "professional" cognition.
"Once this impression is established, it is difficult to change." Li Li said. In his view, Starbucks is based on its own coffee beans, exporting views to the outside world, "defining the industry standard in its own words."
Even Starbucks employees themselves recognize this "high" coffee culture.
In August 2021, Starbucks was on Weibo's hot search because of the "400 yuan buffet" incident. The reason is that a Starbucks store in Shanghai launched a set menu of 398 yuan per capita for a limited time, and after a food blogger admired the buffet, he complained on Weibo that it was "expensive and not delicious, and the serving was slow." But then the blogger received a private message suspected of being from a Starbucks employee questioning his ignorance of coffee culture and asking him to "do his homework before going to such a cultural place."
On Weibo, Starbucks was also caught up in controversy. Many netizens who participated in the discussion complained that Starbucks was too "arrogant" in terms of service.
In the view of brand marketing expert Chen Xuan, Starbucks is a typical American cultural brand, it is also the main scene marketing and store marketing, "the publicity focus of this type of brand is also to create a high-end lifestyle, so domestic users are also accustomed to 'lifting' its position very high." ”
But now, coffee consumption is no longer the exclusive use of the "business elite".
In China, specialty coffee brands including Manner and Sandan and a Half are on the rise. For the current post-90s and post-00s young white-collar workers, their choices are more abundant when consuming, compared to the superstitious Starbucks "brand premium", a cup of coffee of 20-30 yuan can also provide a good coffee experience and attract them to pay. From Luckin to convenience bees, "buy and go" takeaway coffee is also more attractive in terms of cost performance.
"When there was only Starbucks before, I thought that more than 30 yuan to buy a cup of coffee was a normal price. But now, after having Luckin coffee and convenience store specialty coffee for less than 10 yuan, I feel that the price of Starbucks is really expensive. A young white-collar worker in Beijing who loves to drink coffee complained.
When Starbucks no longer means "superiority" in the minds of users, "Star Daddy" also began to walk off the altar.
Does the "atmosphere group" still work?
Starbucks' growth in the Chinese market is slowing. Its "atmosphere group" could not retain people.
In the minds of many people, the deepest impression of Starbucks is that at any time, there is always a group of people sitting in it with computers. A year ago, on Christmas Eve, a netizen posted a photo of a person holding a laptop in Starbucks on social media and asked, "What is this person's profession?" Someone replied in the comments section: "Atmosphere group".
Subsequently, Starbucks official micro publicly said that it would recruit 30 people from the "official atmosphere group" for a one-week term, requiring that they sit in Starbucks stores with wireless Internet access and post messages on social platforms. To this end, a large number of consumers have gone to offline stores to punch in, even if there is no Starbucks office habits of netizens have also joined the army of "atmosphere" with computers. Starbucks then expanded its recruitment to 100 people. Starbucks's "atmosphere group" also became the most out-of-the-loop marketing method last Christmas.
But that year was also the year starbucks got into "trouble." In June 2020, Starbucks expected same-store sales in the U.S. and China to decline 10 to 20 percent throughout fiscal year 2020, and said it would permanently close its 400 stores in the Americas within 18 months.
When the epidemic in the Chinese market eased, Starbucks accelerated the expansion of domestic stores. Starbucks' financial report data shows that China has become Starbucks' second largest consumer market, with 4,704 stores in China as of September 27, 2020, and by October 3, 2021, the number of domestic stores was 5,358, a net increase of 654.
However, Starbucks' performance in China is still not optimistic. In fiscal 2021, Starbucks China's average customer unit price fell by 2%; same-store sales in the fourth fiscal quarter fell by 7% year-on-year, average customer unit prices fell by 5%, and transaction volume fell by 2%.
Starbucks has always been known for its "third space" concept, and talking about business cooperation, financing plans, and busy work "workers" in Starbucks has become a unique label for Starbucks.
It is also Starbucks' largest brand marketing channel. Exquisite stores promote the cultural atmosphere of Starbucks. Inside the store, there are also various starbucks peripherals, including derivatives such as cups.
But Starbucks' "atmosphere group" also began to smell bad: stores became more and more noisy and crowded. "In such a noisy place, I don't know how the person with the computer works." A Starbucks member in Beijing complained. Compared with emerging coffee brands such as "buy and go" Luckin, Starbucks' store costs have also brought greater revenue pressure to it.
Starbucks began to extend its "third space" concept and use it for profit. In November 2021, Starbucks China announced that the first Starbucks co-space concept store in China will open in the Raffles City Office Building in Shanghai. It is understood that the total area of the store is about 200 square meters, with private paid conference rooms, semi-open single office areas, sofa areas for centralized discussion and leisure areas for short stays. Some netizens revealed that the charging standard here is no charge for single seats, 50 yuan per hour for 4 people in the conference room, and 180 yuan per hour for the 8-person conference room.
Starbucks is transforming the "atmosphere group" and also grabbing the business of "co-working space".
At the same time, Starbucks, which is eager to recover the loss of workers, is also less and less "holding".
In the third fiscal quarter of 2018, Starbucks China's same-store sales fell 2%, which was also the first time that its sales performance in China declined. In September of that year, Starbucks opened a takeaway service on Hungry Mo and cooperated to launch a "special star delivery" delivery service, with a single takeaway delivery fee of 9 yuan. However, this high delivery fee is still criticized by many people.
In 2019, Starbucks launched the pre-order service "Brown Express" in China, where consumers can place orders through mobile phones and pick up in stores, trying to catch those "take and go" users through a more convenient way to pick up meals. Starbucks said that in the future, it also plans to expand the "coffee shop" to the sinking market as a supplement to its third space. At present, "Brown Express" has landed on WeChat Mini Program, Alipay, Taobao, Word of Mouth and other platforms.
In September this year, Starbucks also cooperated with The Internet celebrity head anchor Wei Ya and began to carry out discount promotions on Taobao Live. According to statistics, this live broadcast helped Starbucks sell more than 90,000 pairs of StarBucks double-cup coupons, more than 38,000 latte electronic drink coupons and more than 30,000 cups of orange grapefruit party double-cup coupons. All kinds of discount coupons have also begun to flood the card packs of Starbucks users.
But despite this, in the face of more and more new opponents in the country, Starbucks is still under a lot of pressure.
Encirclement and suppression by new forces
At the same time that Starbucks has made changes, local coffee brands have already begun to "encircle and suppress" it.
During the crazy expansion period of Luckin Coffee that year, it launched a competition for talent and storefronts for Starbucks. Li Li told Caijing Weekly that in Jinan's Wanda Plaza, Luckin opened a new store near his Starbucks store, the difference is that this Luckin store is opened in an office building, while Starbucks is in the mall. But he can directly feel that after the opening of the Luckin store, although the competition is not obvious, Starbucks' coffee sales have also declined, compared with the decline in pastry sales.
After that, Li Li was also unclear, because he was "poached" by other Luckin stores. But he recalls, most of the team he worked for at Starbucks at the same time jumped ship to Luckin.
Luckin, which regards Starbucks as an opponent, has experienced financial fraud storms, delisting and high-level blood exchanges after listing, and after a long period of bone scraping and healing, it is now beginning to "recover". According to Luckin's latest financial report data for the third quarter of 2021, the number of its stores has climbed to 5671, surpassing Starbucks, with revenue growing and net loss continuing to narrow.
In addition to Luckin, in the past two years, a "new force" of specialty coffee has also swept in, trying to compete with big brother Starbucks for market space. The upstart Manner in the specialty coffee track, whose storefront is mainly based on small shops of about 2 square meters, saves input costs, and is also loved by young white-collar workers in the city, and is expected to open the number of stores to 400-500 by the end of 2021. The M Stand brand, which has entered Beijing, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chengdu and other places, also opened a centralized store opening model in the second half of this year.
These local specialty coffee brands still can't shake Starbucks' status, but they have played the banner of "more understanding of young people" in taste and brand marketing. According to "TalkingData: Consumer Industry, Exploring the Differences in the Characteristics of Coffee Consumers", the proportion of Starbucks users aged 18-29 today has lagged significantly behind brands such as Luckin.
Li Li believes that these new brands are not "cannibalizing" Starbucks, but they are also invading the Starbucks market. At the same time, Li Li is also worried that the rise of the concept of specialty coffee has also broken the "industry rules" defined by Starbucks.
Also challenging Starbucks are new tea brands. It is understood that when Naixue's tea opened in the early days, it insisted on the route of "opening a big store near Starbucks", so that many cities have Starbucks, and there is a shadow of Naixue. Naixue's big shop is also the main "space" concept, 200 square meters of large shop, 30 yuan a cup of milk tea, has also become a new choice for many urban white-collar workers to relax after work. By the second quarter of 2021, Nesher began to increase the opening plan of its PRO store, large-scale entry into more commercial office buildings, and seize the social scene of the business crowd.
Chen Xuan said that the commercial nature of Starbucks determines that this market itself is full of games, "is a shuluo field" Nesher is more for starbucks main consumer groups to provide a supplement to the consumption scene, for example, it is mainly a relaxed, pastime, leisure atmosphere, and Starbucks business atmosphere is different, is a misplaced competition.
"In the short term, Starbucks has really been impacted by these new tea and coffee brands. From the perspective of long-term competition, it also depends on whether its business strategy is firm and whether it can achieve high user satisfaction. Chen Xuan said.
But now, Starbucks's "food safety door" has caused a big impact on users' confidence in it. Starbucks, which is "middle-aged", is also facing a "crisis".
(Li Li is a pseudonym)
This article is originally produced by AI Finance and Economics, an account of Caijing Tianxia Weekly, without permission, please do not reprint it on any channel or platform. Violators will be prosecuted.